"LeBron wants to be everybody's big brother" - Skip Bayless unimpressed with LeBron James defending Jayson Tatum, believes he won't be embraced by Lakers fans for supporting a Celtic

Skip Bayless sounded off on LeBron James' latest comments on the criticism endured by Jayson Tatum following the Boston Celtics' 2022 NBA Finals loss.

James called Tatum a "beast" and believes he will bounce back after an underwhelming maiden finals appearance. He also compared it to his first NBA Finals run with the Cavaliers in 2007. The veteran suggested that their opponents capitalized on his and Tatum's lack of experience.

Bayless believes LeBron James standing up for Jayson Tatum hurts his chances of being embraced by the LA Lakers faithful. He cited the franchise's storied rivalry against the Boston Celtics as the reason behind that.

Here's what the analyst said on the latest episode of 'Skip and Shannon: Undisputed':

"LeBron wants to be embraced by Hollywood and the Lakers and the Lakernation. There is one thing you can't do, you can't suddently have the back of a Boston Celtic. It's an age old rivalry, it just doesn't feel right. No Laker fan, die hard, is gonna love this."

Bayless added:

"It's like, you're defending him? Even if your criticism is valid, you just don't cross that line because he doesn't deserve your support he's a Celtic."

Skip Bayless brought up his issue with LeBron James being a 'nice guy.' Bayless believes that kills the on-court rivalry and competitive fire among players.

"LeBron wants to be everybody's big brother in the game," said Bayless. It's the classic case of, 'I wanna be close with everybody, I wanna keep my friends close and enemies closer.' He wants to be too close with everybody, where there is no rivalry, no animosity, there's no competitive fire."

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What did LeBron James say about Jayson Tatum?

LeBron James vented his frustration at naysayers targeting athletes relentlessly when they underperform on the latest episode of HBO's 'The Shop: Uninterrupted.' To elaborate on his perspective, James brought up Jayson Tatum's situation after the Boston Celtics' 2022 NBA Finals loss.

Here's what James said:

"Like it's like Jayson Tatum is a beast. He didn't play to his standards. But to the regular sh*t standards that everybody, only people that's comfortable. Like man, he did a hell of a season. And that guys's anyway 25 yet. He'll be back.

"And he got nothing to hang is hat on. He played against the same team my first Finals (a dynasty), I played against the Spurs. It's the same sh*t, the same sh*t, and they took advantage of me not knowing much."

LeBron James and Jayson Tatum registered similar numbers in their maiden NBA Finals appearance, averaging roughly 22/7/7 on 35% shooting.

Both superstars dominated the regular season and in their respective conferences in the postseason. However, their inexperience showed out in the finals against teams with championship pedigree.